


A New (Not Too Distant) Future

by WayWardWonderer



Category: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Genre: Alternate - Freeform, Crossover, Future, Gen, History, Silly, Spoof, meet, new, version, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 05:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12474640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WayWardWonderer/pseuds/WayWardWonderer
Summary: A time traveling Observer goes into the past to stop Michael J. Nelson from traveling 500 years into the future, and blowing up his world. Mike's abducted from Deep 13 in front of Gypsy after she asks him to help Joel Robinson escape from the Satellite of Love. After leaving the theatre Gypsy convinces Joel, Crow and Tom Servo to save Mike! The MST3k crew's future has been altered





	A New (Not Too Distant) Future

Mike Nelson, the blonde temp in a dark grey jumpsuit hired by Dr. Clayton Forrester and his assistant TV's Frank, had begun an unexpected but very interesting conversation with a purple robot named Gypsy. Apparently Gypsy was one of four robots created by a kind, sleepy-eyed human named Joel Robinson, who were all trapped and living aboard the Satellite of Love. At that very moment she was desperately searching for a way to get Joel off the satellite for fear of his life.

"That's amazing Gypsy. Well, we gotta do something." Mike found a large ringed binder full of details, files and schematics revolving around 'Gizmonic Institute' and opened it up. He rested the binder on the small control panel in front of him. "Here's a manifest for the 'Satellite of Love'; maybe there's something here that can help." He began flipping through the pages.

"Oh, yes! Please, please, please!" Gypsy watched from the satellite's live feed with eager anticipation.

"Alright, I assume you-" Mike was cut off midsentence when an unusually pale gentleman in a purple cloak with a green hued brain in a large dish appeared behind him. Mike, sensing someone standing behind him, stopped reading and looked back at the person who manifested out of nowhere. "Gah!" He saw the exposed brain and took a step back in horror and disgust. "What are you doing with that brain? And who are you anyway?"

"Michael J. Nelson." The pale man spoke with a tinge on hostility in his voice as he answered the confused blonde.

"Hey, I'm Michael J. Nelson, too. But just call me Mike." He grinned like an idiot as he extended his hand to shake.

"Silence!" The pale man pointed a single finger at Mike. "You are a destroyer of worlds and must be stopped."

"Destroyer of worlds?!" He pulled his hand back as put both of his hands up defensively. "You've got the wrong guy, I've never a destroyed a world! I've never even been out of the country. This is huge a mistake!"

"There is no mistake to be made. I bore witness to the very atrocities of which you have been accused."

"What are you talking about?" Mike was beginning to panic when he suddenly remembered Gypsy still on the screen. "Hey Gypsy! Do you know this guy? Do you know what he's talking about?"

"Nuh-uh." She shook her head 'no'. "Never seen him before Mike. But if you really did destroy some worlds..."

"I didn't!" Mike defended himself sincerely and returned his focus to his pale accuser. "I really didn't!"

"Silence!" The accuser repeated. "To ensure the safety of my world, and the other worlds that are destined to fall victim to your apathetic incompetence, you shall be preemptively incarcerated until a more suitable permanent solution can be found."

"Incarcerated? You mean I'm going to jail?!" Mike took another step back from the pale man and started slowly backing toward the large door across the room. "I am not going to spend the rest of my life in jail for something I didn't do!"

"Yet."

"Pardon?"

"You're going to spend the rest of your life incarcerated for something you haven't done, yet."

"Wait, are you from the future?"

"No, I'm psychic." He dryly retorted while rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell if some guy I just met holding a giant green brain is being sarcastic or not. Are you from the future or really a psychic?"

The pale accuser closed his eyes in frustration. "Your overwhelming ignorance is all the more infuriating, 'Mike the Destroyer'."

Mike bolted for the door as quickly as he could, the attached heavy leg iron slowing his pace in the process. He grabbed ahold of the large door handle and tried to pry it open to escape.

"Hey!" The accused noticed Mike's attempts to flee. "You cannot run."

"Can too!"

By this time Frank had returned to check on Mike's progress. "Hey, hey, hey! What is going on here?" He stared up and down the pale intruder and noticed the exposed brain in the dish. "Nice brain! Is it yours?" He quickly relapsed into his evil persona. "I mean, how'd you get in here? Who are you?"

"TV's Frank." The pale man answered as he immediately recognized the unexpectedly polite but naïve lackey.

"Hey, I'm TV's Frank! You impostor! I oughta-"

"Wait," Mike overheard the odd confrontation from the door. "he told me his name was 'Michael J. Nelson'!"

"Oh really..." Frank crossed his arms in unfounded arrogance. "so which is it? Are you 'Michael J. Nelson' or 'TV's Frank'?"

"What? Neither!" The pale man shook his head in utter annoyance. "Imbeciles... Allow me to properly introduce myself: I am called 'Observer'."

Mike returned to the center of the room. "Then why'd you say your name was-"

"I didn't! I wasn't giving you my name, I was merely addressing you by your name upon my initial arrival, you towering ignoramus!"

"But you just told me-"

"No! I was addressing you by your name also!" He stared at Mike and Frank for a brief second. "How can a species as dense as humans have possibly evolved to the highest form of intelligent life on this ocean covered rock?"

Mike and Frank looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and answered with a simple. "I don't know."

Observer sighed and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "That was rhetorical, you weren't meant to provide an actual answer."

Frank put his hand on Observer's shoulder and pushed him back. "Answer my question you pasty liar! What's going on?"

"I..." Observer removed Frank's hand from his shoulder and straightened his cloak. "I am here to take Michael J. Nelson to an intergalactic prison to prevent this buffoon from committing multiple acts of genocide."

"Genocide!?" Frank couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Mike, what the heck's wrong with you man?"

"I didn't do anything!"

Observer added. "Yet."

"Right, yet." Mike agreed. "Please Frank, you gotta help me! I don't know what's going on and I don't want to spend the rest of my life in jail!"

"The rest of your life?" Frank put his hand to his chin as pondered the idea. "Well, seeing as Dr. Forrester and I were just going to kill you anyway, I think this is the best option."

"Oh, well, if it's the-" Mike's eyes got wide as he just realized what Frank said. "You were going to KILL ME?!"

Gypsy, still watching from the satellite also overheard the revelation. "They were going to kill MIKE? Not Joel? Oh thanks Heavens!" It was then she felt a little guilty for being so happy. "Oh! Poor Mike! I have to help him!" She tried to get Frank and Observers' attentions. "Hey! Hey you guys! Hey!"

Frank, Observer and Mike all looked at Gypsy on the monitor. "What?" Frank asked sounding a little irritated.

"Uh, you guys should leave Mike alone! He's a nice guy!"

"Nice guy?" Frank scoffed at the notion. "You only just met him, how would you know?"

"Uh..." Gypsy was struggling to answer. "Well, I was programmed to know nice people from bad people! Mike's nice and you're bad! So there!"

Observer sighed unamused. "Ah yes, the robot called Gypsy. Of course she'd speak up on poor Mike's behalf."

"Huh?" Mike didn't understand what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, right. Time travel. You see Mike, you and those annoying little toys on that ridiculous spacecraft become quite good friends. At least, you did until I decided to alter the current timeline for the betterment of the universe."

"You altered the timeline?"

"Yes. And now we must be off."

"To where?"

"Haven't you been paying attention at all?" Observer was losing his patience. "You are going to be incarcerated to prevent genocide. Now, we must be off." He looked over at Frank. "Frank."

Frank responded flatly. "Observer. Mike."

Mike replied in the same demeanor. "Frank. Observer."

Observer joined in. "Mike." He held out his brain. "Say good-bye to your little friend."

Sadly Mike waved good-bye to Gypsy through the monitor. "Bye Gypsy. Thank for trying to help."

Observer shook his head and in an instant he and Mike were gone from the basement of 'Deep 13'.

Frank was left standing alone. He looked around the now vacated area. "Well, that was easy. I wonder if 'Golden Girls' is on..." He walked out of the room leaving Gypsy with a blank monitor screen.

"Oh my stars!" Gypsy was genuinely worried about poor Mike. "I have to do something! I have to tell Joel! Joel will fix it! He can fix anything!"

Joel, Crow and Tom were exiting the theater after witnessing the cinematic sin known as 'Mitchell'. Joel was carrying a piece of fan mail in his hands an was preparing to read it on the bridge so Cambot could record it for posterity. "Okay guys, I've got the letter to read. Now let's-"

"Joel!" Gypsy practically collided with Joel in her haste to find him. "Joel! It's bad! It's bad! It's really, really, really-"

"Easy Gypsy!" Joel put his hands on her nose to try and ease her distress. "What's going on? Take a breath and tell me what happened."

Gypsy took in several fast breaths in an attempt to calm herself, but it wasn't working.

"Gypsy, you need to breathe slowly. In and out, come on..."

Listening to Joel Gypsy proceeded to calm her breathing and finally find the words to explain what had happened while Joel and the other bots were in the theater. "Joel, the 'Mad poopies' called and I overheard them talking about killing someone in a jumpsuit!"

"What?!" Joel, Crow and Tom were all surprised by this revelation.

"But it turns out it wasn't you!"

"It wasn't me?" Joel let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Then who?"

"The temp they hired, Mike!"

"That's awful Gypsy, but what can we do? We're stuck up in space!"

The red light on the desk began flashing, indicating another incoming transmission from the 'Mads' down in Deep 13. The four stared at the flashing light, unsure if they should answer or not.

Crow pushed Tom toward the desk. "Go ahead, press the button!"

"No way!" Tom pushed Crow back. "You press it!"

"I'm not going to press it!"

"Well, I'm certainly not!"

Joel put his arms between the bickering robots and forced them apart. "I'll answer it." He slapped the red button. "Yes sirs?"

Frank's face appeared on the monitor screen that connected the Satellite to Deep 13. "Hey Joel." Frank greeted relatively warmly. "Dr. F is still in the shower, he should be out in just a moment."

"Great." Joel responded flatly. He casually rubbed at the back of his neck. "So, uh, what's going on down there?"

"Nothing much. 'Baywatch' marathons, eating some leftovers, still getting killed every now and then... You know, the usual!"

"Right, usual." Joel looked over at Gypsy who was still worried for Mike. "So, where's the new guy, Mike?"

"Mike? Mike..." Frank took a moment to try and place the name. "Oh, Mike! The temp! Yeah," he laughed a little. "funny thing is he's gone and we didn't have to pay him!"

"Really?" Joel was trying to feign innocence. "Was he feeling sick or get called away, or what?"

"Oh, nothing that dramatic. Some weird pale dude carrying around a brain took him away."

"What? Why?"

"Well, this guy, said his name was 'Observer', claimed he was from the future and was going to keep Mike from destroying some worlds or something, I wasn't paying that close attention."

"And... where are they now?"

"Huh?" Frank didn't put much thought into the whereabouts of Mike or Observer. "Oh, well, I don't know. They sort of disappeared like half an hour ago."

Dr. Forrester walked into the room wearing a neon green bathrobe and with a neon green towel over his shoulder. "Ah, Frank. Nothing like a good shower to make a man feel-" He noticed Joel and the robots watching him.

Joel just coyly waved 'hi' at his semi-descent captor.

"Gah! Frank! Why didn't you tell me Joel was..." He threw his towel on the floor. "Ah, never mind!" He crossed his arms and gave Joel an arrogant look. "Well, Joely-poley, how was the movie? Have you gone completely insane yet? Are you ready to bow down and kiss my sexy feet?"

"Not exactly, it was a pretty bad movie and all, but..."

"'But'? But what! Tell me!"

Joel had a cunning plan. "It's just we were curious about what happened to your temp. He's not around and we'll be too busy worrying about him to really pay any attention to any movie you send up."

"Frank!" He yelled even though Frank was standing right next to him.

Frank covered his ears. "What? I'm right here, you know!"

"Frank, where's the temp? Where's Mitch?"

"Mike."

"Right, where's Mel?"

"Uh..."

"Frank, please don't tell me you lost the temp."

"No, no sir, I didn't lose him."

"Well, you didn't kill him without me, did you? If you did I'd be really hurt, because, you know, kill is sort our thing. It's our 'us' time."

Joel and the bots just shook their heads in disgusted uneasiness at the conversation unfolding before them. Crow nudged Joel's leg. "Geez, what's with these two? It's like they live in a 'Lifetime' movie or something."

"Shh." Joel shushed the robot.

Frank was nervously wringing his hands together. "Well, you see Clay, or, er..." He stumbled on his own words. "Dr. Forrester," he corrected himself before continuing. "while you were in the shower some guy from the future showed up and took Mike away. I don't know where."

"WHAT?!" He yelled at his lackey with both anger and confusion. "How could you let that happen? How'd a man from the future get in here anyway? Now who am I supposed to kill?"

"Uh..." Frank tried to slink away.

"Frank! Get back here..." Dr. Forrester pulled a large chainsaw out from under his control panel and started pulling on the cord. "This is going to hurt."

"I know..." Frank whined.

"Just to be a good sport, I'll give you a five second head start." The chainsaw roared to life.

"Thank you see sir! AAAAAHHHHHH!" Frank bolted across the room and out of sight of the monitor.

"Until next time Joel." Dr. Forrester pressed the button and screen went black.

Joel and the bots just stared at the blank for a minute before Gypsy broke the silence.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Crow replied.

"What about Mike?"

"Who?" Tom responded sincerely.

"Mike!" Gypsy repeated. "The nice guy who was going to help me save Joel until I found out Joel wasn't the one going to be killed!"

"Not ringing a bell..."

"Joel!" Gypsy realized that Crow and Tom weren't going to be of any help at all. "Please! We have to help Mike!"

"I wish I knew how Gypsy, but we're kinda limited here. I mean, we don't know where Mike is, we don't know who this 'Observer' is and even if we did know where they went, the ship won't be able to take us anywhere. Dr. Forrester controls the satellite's orbit from down on Earth, remember?"

"Oh..."

Joel put a sympathetic hand on Gypsy's nose again. "I'm sorry girl, we can't do much."

Gypsy didn't say anything, she just slowly slithered off the bridge and toward her private room.

"Poor Gypsy." Joel hated seeing his robot friends upset.

"Yeah," Crow looked around the room, not really caring about this Mike person at all. "so who's hungry?"

"Me, me, me!" Tom answered energetically.

"You two go ahead without me, I'm going to stay here and work on the bridge."

"Okay, more for us. I'll race you bubble butt!"

"You're on big nose!"

Alone on the bridge Joel began taking apart the large communication console, exposing the numerous colored wires beneath. "Okay, let's see if I can't patch into the 'Mads' video feed..." He often spoke aloud to himself as he worked.

Testing each potential combination of wires, circuits and microchips, a static filled image of the latest security feed from Deep 13 began to appear on the monitor. Through the static Joel could barely see the blonde temp and the pale abductor, just seconds before they disappeared into thin air. A poor image with no sound was all Joel could extract.

Thoroughly intrigued, Joel rewound the stolen, grainy footage while trying to engage the audio function. "I don't know who you are Mike, but I get the feeling we were destined to meet."

* * *

 

Mike found himself standing alone in a very large, seemingly eternal chamber. A single beam of white light shone down from the ceiling over his body. Looking around the room nervously Mike called out for the only other living being he thought might still be nearby. "Hello? Observer?" His voice shook as it echoed through the vastness of the unfriendly chamber. "Anybody?"

Observer suddenly appeared in front of Mike, but he did not return alone. Two other beings; both a little taller but just as pale, wearing purple cloaks and carrying brains stood at Observer's shoulders. "Mike." Observer greeted coldly.

"Hey, what's going on now? Where am I?"

"You are currently standing in the center of the highest court in known the galaxy."

"To stand trial?" He asked hopefully.

"No, to await sentencing."

"Wait, I don't even get a trial? I have no chance whatsoever to try and defend myself!?"

"No."

"That's crazy! Why not?"

"Because you are undoubtedly guilty for the crimes in which you have been accused. We, that is," he motioned with his hand to the two other beings behind him. "Observer, Observer and myself," he returned his focus to Mike, "have already delivered damning testimony through which no evidence can be disputed."

Mike stared at the three beings in stunned silence as beads of sweat began to roll down his face. He found his voice and tried to speak with authority. "Evidence or not, on my world we're all innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. And I have the right to stand trial with a jury of my peers, AND the right to face my accusers!"

Observer laughed menacingly and apathetically, scoffing at the very notion of a trial. "Ah yes, what you ancient Earthling's call 'Justice' we call 'farce'." He continued laughing which caused his two companions to begin laughing condescendingly at Mike's pleas as well.

Mike was not deterred. "If you're already so certain that I'm guilty, then what will it hurt to let me try to defend myself?"

"Hm," the taller Observer spoke up. "Observer, a moment if you would please."

"Yes Observer?" He turned his back to Mike to face his colleagues standing behind him.

"Perhaps would should allow a trial to commence. It may provide enlightening information on this primitive society. If not it should be quite entertaining at the very least."

"I agree." The tallest Observer chimed in on the discussion. "Entertainment is in itself enlightening."

"Agreed." Observer turned back to Mike. "Very well, Michael J. Nelson of Earth, you may have a trial. Let us proceed."

"Thank you." Mike wiped away the rolling sweat from his brow. "When does the trial begin?"

"Now."

"Pardon? Did you say, 'now'?" Mike's stomach dropped.

"Indeed." Observer shook his head and two tables and a row of seats appeared in the room behind Mike, while a large judge's bench and witness stand appeared behind the Observers and a single jury box appeared to their right. "Would you care for a lawyer?"

"Uh..." Mike scratched the back of his neck, more puzzled by how the furniture magically appeared in the chamber. "I don't know. Are there Earth lawyers who are familiar with alien court systems?"

"Not as many as you might assume."

"Then I'll pass. I'll just defend myself, I guess."

The three Observer's exchanged amused glances of arrogance and impending victory. Observer smugly tagged on. "I wish you the best of luck."

"Thanks..." Mike didn't appreciate the snarky attitude of his accusers. "Where's the judge?"

"Ah yes, please seat yourself defendant..." Observer quipped as he sat behind the prosecutor's desk. The other Observers took their seats behind Observer's desk. Observer shook his head and from seemingly out of thin air a large wooden door appeared. The door opened slowly: "All rise for the honorable Judge Vengeance."

'That's not good.' Mike muttered to himself as he slowly rose to his feet. The Observers mirrored Mike's actions from the opposite side of the court.

Wearing an oversized, thick black cloak Judge Vengeance walked through the door as a heavy mist poured through the door frame. With a heavy black hood draped over their head any and all facial features were shrouded in shadow. In a voice of indeterminable gender or origin, Vengeance loudly addressed the court. "Be seated."

Mike quickly sat back down, thoroughly and rightfully intimidated by the enigmatic being that was presiding over his case and his fate. The Observers casually and calmly reclaimed their seats without flinching.

Judge Vengeance pointed to Observer. "Begin."

"Thank you, your Honor." He rose from the desk, leaving his brain behind as he eloquently began making his case against Mike.

* * *

 

On the bridge of the Satellite of Love Joel had finished piecing together and restoring the security footage he had tapped into from Deep 13. He was standing ankle deep in loose circuit boards and the multi-colored wires that snaked across the floor. After successfully retrieving the audio for the footage he synchronized it with the visual data. "Okay that should do it. Cambot, play it from the beginning, please." He removed his seldom seen glasses and casually tossed them on the desk.

Cambot rewound the footage then proceeded to play the recorded footage:

_'"That's amazing Gypsy. Well, we gotta do something." Mike found a large ringed binder full of details, files and schematics revolving around 'Gizmonic Institute' and opened it up. He rested the binder on the small control panel in front of him. "Here's a manifest for the 'Satellite of Love'; maybe there's something here that can help." He began flipping through the pages._

_"Oh, yes! Please, please, please!" Gypsy watched from the satellite's live feed with eager anticipation._

_"Alright, I assume you-" Mike was cut off midsentence when an unusually pale gentleman in a purple cloak with a green hued brain in a large dish appeared behind him. Mike, sensing someone standing behind him, stopped reading and looked back at the person who manifested out of nowhere. "Gah!" He saw the exposed brain and took a step back in horror and disgust. "What are you doing with that brain? And who are you anyway?"_

_"Michael J. Nelson." The pale man spoke with a tinge on hostility in his voice as he answered the confused blonde._

_"Hey, I'm Michael J. Nelson, too. But just call me Mike." He grinned like an idiot as he extended his hand to shake._

_"Silence!" The pale man pointed a single finger at Mike. "You are a destroyer of worlds and must be stopped."'_

_"Skip ahead a little Cambot." Joel was fascinated by the monumental situation that had taken place while he was in the theater. "I want to see what happens just before Mike vanishes."_

_Cambot did as he was instructed and proceeded to fast-forward through the footage. Joel watched in high speed as the gray jumpsuited temp and the pale visitor exchanged odd dialogue and watched as Mike tried to escape through the door. The scene was made all the more interesting when Frank showed up. "That's good! Press 'play' please."_

_'"Hey, hey, hey! What is going on here?" He stared up and down the pale intruder and noticed the exposed brain in the dish. "Nice brain! Is it yours?" He quickly relapsed into his evil persona. "I mean, how'd you get in here? Who are you?"_

_"TV's Frank." The pale man answered as he immediately recognized the unexpectedly polite but naïve lackey._

_"Hey, I'm TV's Frank! You imposter! I oughta-"_

_"Wait," Mike overheard the odd confrontation from the door. "he told me his name was 'Michael J. Nelson'!"_

_"Oh really..." Frank crossed his arms in unfounded arrogance. "so which is it? Are you 'Michael J. Nelson' or 'TV's Frank'?"_

_"What? Neither!" The pale man shook his head in utter annoyance. "Imbeciles... Allow me to properly introduce myself: I am called 'Observer'."_

_Mike returned to the center of the room. "Then why'd you say your name was-"_

_"I didn't! I wasn't giving you my name, I was merely addressing you by your name upon my initial arrival, you towering ignoramus!"_

_"But you just told me-"_

_"No! I was addressing you by your name also!" He stared at Mike and Frank for a brief second. "How can a species as dense as humans have possible evolved to the highest form of intelligent life on this ocean covered rock?"_

_Mike and Frank looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and answered with a simple. "I don't know."_

_Observer sighed and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "That was rhetorical, you weren't meant to provide an actual answer."_

_Frank put his hand on Observer's shoulder and pushed him back. "Answer my question you pasty liar! What's going on?"_

_"I..." Observer removed Frank's hand from his shoulder and straightened his cloak. "I am here to take Michael J. Nelson to an intergalactic prison to prevent this buffoon from committing multiple acts of genocide."_

_"Genocide!?" Frank couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Mike, what the heck's wrong with you man?"_

_"I didn't do anything!"_

_Observer added. "Yet."_

_"Right, yet." Mike agreed. "Please Frank, you gotta help me! I don't know what's going on and I don't want to spend the rest of my life in jail!"_

_"The rest of your life?" Frank put his hand to his chin as pondered the idea. "Well, seeing as Dr. Forrester and I were just going to kill you anyway, I think this is the best option."_

_"Oh, well, if it's the-" Mike's eyes got wide as he just realized what Frank said. "You were going to KILL ME?!"_

_Gypsy, still watching from the satellite also overheard the revelation. "They were going to kill MIKE? Not Joel? Oh thanks Heavens!" It was then she felt a little guilty for being so happy. "Oh! Poor Mike! I have to help him!" She tried to get Frank and Observers' attentions. "Hey! Hey you guys! Hey!"'_

_Joel heard Gypsy's concerned voice on the footage. "Gypsy? Wow, she really is worried about Mike." He ran his fingers through his hair as he began processing the odd events and continued watching the incredibly strange footage._

_'Frank, Observer and Mike all looked at Gypsy on the monitor. "What?" Frank asked sounding a little irritated._

_"Uh, you guys should leave Mike alone! He's a nice guy!"_

_"Nice guy?" Frank scoffed at the notion. "You only just met him, how would you know?"_

_"Uh..." Gypsy was struggling to answer. "Well, I was programmed to know nice people from bad people! Mike's nice and you're bad! So there!"_

_Observer sighed unamused. "Ah yes, the robot called Gypsy. Of course she'd speak up on poor Mike's behalf."_

_"Huh?" Mike didn't understand what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"_

_"Oh, right. Time travel. You see Mike, you and those annoying little toys on that ridiculous spacecraft become quite good friends. At least, you did until I decided to alter the current timeline for the betterment of the universe."_

_"You altered the timeline?"_

_"Yes. And now we must be off."_

_"To where?"_

_"Haven't you been paying attention at all?" Observer was losing his patience. "You are going to be incarcerated to prevent genocide. Now, we must be off." He looked over at Frank. "Frank."_

_Frank responded flatly. "Observer. Mike."_

_Mike replied in the same demeanor. "Frank. Observer."_

_Observer joined in. "Mike." He held out his brain. "Say good-bye to your little friend."_

_Sadly Mike waved good-bye to Gypsy through the monitor. "Bye Gypsy. Thank for trying to help."_

_Observer shook his head and in an instant he and Mike were gone from the basement of 'Deep 13'._

_Frank was left standing alone. He looked around the now vacated area. "Well, that was easy. I wonder if 'Golden Girls' is on..." He walked out of the room leaving Gypsy with a blank monitor screen._

_"Oh my stars!" Gypsy was genuinely worried about poor Mike. "I have to do something! I have to tell Joel! Joel will fix it! He can fix anything!"'_

The footage came to end shortly after Mike and Observer disappeared. Static and silence overtook the image on the monitor and Joel was left with a critical decision.

"Man, this is heavy." Joel leaned down against the desk and bowed his head as he tried to think of a solution. "This guy is in some serious trouble, but I don't know how I could help." He looked up at Cambot. "But I can't just ignore him, can I?"

Cambot shook his body left and right, answering Joel with a firm 'no'.

"You're right Cambot. But do you really think we could help him out?"

This time Cambot answered a definitive 'yes' by bobbing his whole body up and down.

"Wish I had your confidence."

Crow and Tom returned to the bridge of the ship and were confused by the mess of exposed wires and circuit boards all over the place. Tom hovered up out of the mess and onto the desk. "What the heck happened Joel? Did you see a spider or something?"

"Spider!" Crow started panicking and scrambled to climb up Joel's leg. "Where?! Kill it! Then kill it again!"

"No, you guys." Joel pried Crow from his leg and put him back on the floor. "No spider."

"Oh, good. Then what you do?"

"Remember what Gypsy said about that temp in Deep 13 named Mike?"

"Yeah?" Crow knew where Joel was heading and wasn't thrilled.

"Oh Joel," Tom sounded a little disappointed in his friend and creator. "you shouldn't indulge in Gypsy's fantasies, it'll only encourage her."

"I'm not indulging any fantasy Servo, I was just curious about what happened. That's all."

"And what you find out?"

"I found out that Mike needs help."

"And you're going to help him?"

"I might."

"How?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything about time travel or alien court systems or even anything about Mike!"

"So what you're saying is Mike is doomed?"

"Probably." Joel sounded defeated.

Crow shook his head. "You're just a gleaming ray of sunshine, aren't ya' Joel?"

Joel put his hand on Crow's head. "Hey Gypsy, could you come in here please?"

Within a few seconds Gypsy slithered her way back onto the bridge. She was hanging her head low in sorrow for Mike.

"Aw, Gypsy..." Joel took his hand from Crow and put it on her nose to try and comfort her. "I'm sorry girl, but I'm just not sure what I can do to help Mike. I'm not going to stop trying, but I don't want you to get your hopes up too high, okay?"

"Okay..."

Unexpectedly and out of nowhere the tallest of the three Observers appeared on the bridge. At his arrival all four robots freaked out and screamed in terror as they ran around the bridge.

"Ah!" Tom hovered behind Joel and proceeded to yell over his panicking companions. "It's 'The Crow!'"

"No!" Crow stopped running and screaming just to reply to Tom. "I'm Crow!" He looked back at the Observer and continued panicking and screaming.

Observer was not amused. He stood very rigid and used one hand to cover an ear, while the other hand kept a grip on the bowl with the brain.

Joel tried to take back control of the chaotic situation. "Okay! Okay! Everyone calm DOWN." Using the 'dad voice' always worked. The robots quieted down and positioned themselves behind Joel. "I take it your a friend of Observer?"

"Indeed I am." He uncovered his ear. "I am Observer."

"Okay..." Joel looked back at Tom and Crow who just mouthed the words 'I don't know' in response. "So, what brings you to the Satellite of Love?"

"Are you familiar with one 'Michael J. Nelson'?"

"Only from the security footage."

"Hm," Observer got a sick grin on his pale face. "this will be most interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"At this very moment Mike, as he prefers to be called, is standing trial for his eventual crimes. He has the right to a fair trial by a jury of his peers. Unfortunately one such jury could not be found."

"That's... too bad?" Joel had no idea what Observer wanted.

Observer scoffed at Joel's simplified opinion on the matter. "However the prospect of locating 'character witnesses' to speak on Mike's behalf could be found."

"Wait, do you mean us?"

Nodding 'yes' Observer's sick grin became quite sinister.

"But we don't-"

"It does not matter." He cut off Joel before he could finish his sentence. "The trial has begun and you, Joel Robinson, have been called to the stand."

Observer nodded his head quickly and in an instant Joel, Crow, Tom, Gypsy and even Cambot were taken from the Satellite of Love and brought to the enigmatic alien court room.

Joel looked around the room with absolute horrified confusion, just as Mike had done when he first arrived. Gypsy and Cambot instinctively remained close to Joel.

Crow and Tom looked at each other before excitedly trying to coax Observer into transporting them again. "That was so cool!"

"Do it again! Do it again!"

Observer backed away from the energetic robots. "No."

"Please? Please, oh please, oh please?"

"No!"

"You dink!"

While Cambot proceeded to continue recording the odd unfolding events Gypsy noticed Mike sitting at the defendants table. He was slouched down with his head resting in his hands.

"Mike!" She called out to him happily.

Mike immediately recognized her odd voice and looked up. "Gypsy?"

Mike stared with disbelief at Gypsy, who stood her ground beside Joel. He didn't even pay any attention to Joel, Crow, Tom or Cambot. "What's going on now? How'd you get here?"

"Beats me." She answered honestly. "But Joel's here. He can help."

Joel heard Gypsy's claim and was taken aback. "Huh? I can?"

Mike looked at the sleepy-eyed stranger in the red jumpsuit next to his newly acquainted purple robot ally. "He can?"

"Yup!" Her voiced carrying genuine confidence.

Observer, who had put Mike on trial to begin with, looked over the eclectic group of newly arrived character witnesses and shook his head with unfounded snobby judgment. "Perhaps we should continue the trial." He motioned for Joel and the bots to sit at the benches behind Mike.

Unsure of what to do, Joel made his way toward the designated area with Gypsy and Cambot following close behind. He noticed that Crow and Tom were still pestering the Observer who had brought them to the courtroom. "You guys, let's go."

The riffing duo looked over at Joel and saw him motioning for them to sit down with him. "Aw, we wanna transport again!"

"Now guys."

"Fine..." They begrudgingly took their seats next to Joel, grumbling and complaining under their breaths the whole trek.

"Shh!" Joel shushed their childish whines.

"Joel?" Crow tried to sound cute. "Can we get ice cream after this?"

"We'll see."

Crow hung his head in disappointment. "That always means 'no'..."

Judge Vengeance banged his gavel on the bench three times. "Silence! Court is now in session. Prosecution may call their first witness to the stand."

"Very well." Observer straightened his purple cloak like he would a tie. "I call Joel Robinson to the stand."

As Crow and Tom let out cliché gasps of surprise, Joel, still completely baffled by this entire experience, obeyed the request and approached the bench. He sat up straight and watched curiously as Observer approached him. "Do you, Joel Robinson, swear to the tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

Quickly Joel raised his right hand as he swore the oath. "I do. But, uh, shouldn't there be a-"

"No." Observer answered quickly. "Not necessary in this case." He raised his head high and paced back and forth slowly in front of Joel. "Now, Mr. Robinson, how do you know the defendant?"

"By defendant I assume you mean Mike?"

"Correct. How do you know Michael J. Nelson?"

"Uh, just barely... I guess."

"Oh?" He turned and faced his colleagues sitting in their own quiet arrogance on the benches behind the prosecutor's desk. "That's very interesting."

"Not really." Joel replied matter-of-factually. "I barely know you, too!"

"Objection!" Observer blurted out angrily.

Judge Vengeance looked down at Observer from the bench. "Overruled."

Crow and Tom cheered out from their seats. "Ha ha!"

Observer clenched his fists in frustration only momentarily before he regained his composure. "Mr. Robinson, what do you know about Michael J. Nelson?"

"Well, I know he was hired as a temp to work in Deep 13, which is a secret lab in the basement of Gizmonic Institute, then he willingly tried to help me when my friend, Gypsy, asked him to. I also heard he prefers to be called 'Mike', not 'Michael'."

"And what is your overall conclusion of Mike?"

"It's a little early to draw any kind of conclusion, but from what I know so far he seems like a pretty nice guy. Hard worker, friendly..."

"Objection!" Observer protested Joel's testimony again. "Your Honor, the witness is leading!"

"Overruled." Judge Vengeance favored the defense again. "Prosecution offered the question and the witness provided an answer. Move along."

Once more Crow and Tom mocked Observer. "Ha! Loser!"

Judge Vengeance banged his gavel again and pointed at the unruly robots. "Order in the court."

Crow and Tom sank down in their seats. "Okay..."

Observer took his pondering his next and final question for Joel. He studied the laidback witness carefully be finally resuming his line of questioning. "Mr. Robinson, are you aware that in five hundred years time, this 'hard working, friendly, nice guy' will be solely responsible for the destruction of three worlds?"

"I'm aware of your accusations against Mike, but I haven't seen any evidence."

"Objection!" Observer practically spat out his claim. "The evidence in question does not yet exist, I reiterate: The crimes to which the defendant is standing trial will occur in five hundred years time."

"Well, if by your own admission the evidence against Mike doesn't even exist, how can you charge him with a crime that hasn't happened yet?"

Judge Vengeance looked down at Observer again. "Overruled."

Mike let out a massive sigh of relief after hearing Joel's testimony on his behalf.

Observer looked at his colleagues who crossed their arms with impatience and mounting disapproval. He sighed heavily. "I have no further questions for this witness..." He returned to his desk with fading confidence.

Judge Vengeance focused his concealed eyes on Mike. "The defense may interrogate the witness."

Mike, who was still scared, rose from his desk and walked toward the stand. He was still wearing the leg iron with the ball and chain that had been provided by Dr. Forrester. As he walked the restraint scrapped loudly and awkwardly along the floor as he dragged it behind him. He approached the stand and promptly froze as he casually leaned against the bench.

Joel decided to get his attention. "Uh, Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to ask me a question?"

"Uh, sure. I guess." He looked around the court nervously. "Okay, um, Mr. Robinson..."

"Just call me Joel."

"Okay, Joel. Uh, what exactly... Um, what do you do for a living?"

"I used to work at Gizmonic Institute before I was shot into space."

"Shot into space?"

"My bosses didn't like me."

"Seems a little extreme. Who were your bosses?"

"Dr. Forrester and Dr. Erhardt."

"Never met any 'Dr. Erhardt'."

"He worked for Dr. Forrester before Frank. Technically, Dr. Erhardt is considered a missing person but no one really seems to care."

"Oh, that makes sense. I think. So what do you do all day when your trapped in space?"

"I hang out with my robot friends and mock movies on a weekly basis."

"Where did you get those robots anyway?"

"I built them."

"Seriously? That's so cool!"

"Thanks, it wasn't easy either. I had to-"

Observer had enough of the friendly banter, he stood up from his desk in a huff. "Your Honor, what is the purpose of this line of questioning?"

Judge Vengeance looked down Mike. "Ask only questions relevant to the case."

"Okay, sorry Your Honor." Mike cleared this throat. He caught Observer glaring at him from the corner of his eye. Then he had an idea. "Joel, how do you know... Observer!" He turned dramatically and pointed at his accuser.

"He's the guy I saw abduct you, and then had his colleague to transport me and my robots to this trial."

"No further questions." Mike hastily retreated to his desk.

Judge Vengeance looked down at Joel. "The witness may step down."

Joel shrugged his shoulders with indifference as he stepped down from the witness stand. As he walked pass Mike's desk, Mike reached out and grabbed Joel's arm. "Hey thanks!"

Joel subtly nodded his head to acknowledge Mike as he took his seat back with the robots.

The tallest of the Observers put his hand on Observer's shoulder. "You are failing to convict the man who destroyed our world without provocation! You dare call yourself an Observer?"

"I'm doing my best! Your criticism is not helping."

Joel and the bots watched with great intrigue as the three Observers whispered to each other between glares at Mike, who was sitting alone at his desk looking scared and absolutely confused by the whole ordeal. He was beginning to sweat nervously again and as feeling the pressure of the case mounting against not only him, but his future.

On the bench behind Mike, Tom nudged Joel's arm. "Hey Joel," he whispered calmly. "think Mike'll fry?"

"Shh!" Joel put his hand over Tom's mouth. "Don't say things like that."

Tom wrestled his mouth free. "Why not? We're all thinking it."

"No, you're thinking it and I don't want you to." Joel put his hand firmly over Tom's mouth again.

Crow chimed in. "I bet he gets the noose!"

"Hey!" Joel put his other hand over Crow's beak. "Stop."

Mike could hear the whispering taking place around him but he couldn't understand what was being said. He looked around the courtroom, intentionally avoiding the gaze of the Observers and looked over his shoulder at Joel and the robots. When he saw Joel's hands over two of the robots mouths he knew that they were talking about him.

'Just what I need; staggering confidence and unspoken support.' He muttered to himself as he rested his head down on the desk.

The accusing Observer finished his conference with his colleagues and rose from his desk with renewed vigor and arrogance. "Prosecution would like to call the next witness to the stand."

Judge Vengeance nodded his concealed head. "Proceed."

"I call Mr. Crow T. Robot to the stand."

"Crow?" Joel looked down at his gilded companion with surprise.

"Me?" Crow looked up with alarm.

Observer pointed to him. "Yes. You. Take the stand."

"Uh..." He looked up at Joel unsure of what to do.

"Go." Joel responded. "Just be honest and don't exaggerate, at all."

"Okay." Crow climbed down from his seat and walked up the witness stand, carefully eyeballing the three Observers as he approached the bench.

As Crow took his seat on the stand Observer approached the gold robot. "Do you, Crow T. Robot, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

Crow looked at Joel who nodded and motioned for him to raise his right hand. Raising his right gold claw Crow responded with a simple. "Yup."

Mike face-palmed himself after hearing the apathetic answer. "I'm doomed..."

"Mr. Robot," Observer began his line of questioning while pacing back and forth in front of the witness stand. "how do you know Michael J. Nelson?"

"I don't."

"What is your initial impression of Michael J. Nelson?"

"He has a misshaped head."

Observer paused suddenly, his flow thrown off by the callous response. Meanwhile Joel rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly. "Oh wow..."

Clearing his throat Observer continued. "Aside from potential cranial abnormalities, what is your impression of Michael J. Nelson's overall demeanor?"

Crow looked over at Mike, who flashed the little bot a nervous grin. "Scared."

"No," Observer decided to rephrase his question. "what is your impression of Mike's demeanor outside the courtroom?"

"I don't know. I've never spoken to the guy, I didn't even know he existed until today. But Gypsy's talked with him, maybe you should ask-"

"Objection!" Observer wanted to stop Crow before he began. "This is not about Gypsy, only you."

Judge Vengeance leered down at Observer. "Sustained."

"One last question Mr. Robot." Observer shot a prideful smirk at Mike, confident he had Mike cornered. "As a sentient robot who has encountered numerous and various creatures, aliens and people during your exile; how would you characterize a man who will unquestionably destroy three worlds without provocation?"

"Kind of a dickweed." Crow saw Mike drop his head in defeat. "Wait, does it he destroy the worlds on purpose?"

"Uh..." Observer lost his momentum once again. "In all honesty and fact..." He begrudgingly answered the question. "No. He does not."

"Oh, then he's kind of a clumsy dickweed!"

Observer bowed his head as he returned to his desk. "I have no more questions for this witness Your Honor."

Judge Vengeance looked over at Mike, who still had his head on his desk. "The Defense may now proceed with questioning the witness."

Mike lifted his head from the desk and still dragging the heavy leg iron, slowly made his way toward Crow at the witness stand. "Hi."

"Hello."

"I'm not sure what to ask at this point. We've never met before and yet your supposed to either save me or hang me with your testimony. This sucks."

"I know." Crow agreed with Mike. "It totally sucks!"

Observer addressed the court. "Your Honor, is there a question to be asked?"

"Oh, sorry." Mike apologized. "Um, Mr. Robot..."

"Crow."

"Pardon?"

"Crow. That's my name, so just call me Crow."

"Okay, Crow..."

"Yes?"

"Um, if you know that I'm 'supposedly' going to destroy three worlds, and my accuser admits it was an accident, do you think it's fair I stand trial for an act I didn't even commit? Yet?" He emphasized the 'yet' to keep the Observers quiet.

"No." Crow looked over at Joel. "That'd be like Joel putting me in time-out for 'hypothetically' filling his cabin with pudding, just because I'm 'hypothetically' cable of doing it."

Observer protested the answer. "Objection! Crow T. Robot isn't on trial, Michael J. Nelson is. There is no reason to-"

"Overruled." Judge Vengeance replied with authority.

Observer sat down in a huff, almost pouting like a small child.

Mike didn't know what else to ask Crow. "Um, no more questions." He returned to his desk, the heavy leg iron scrapping a deep groove into the floor as he walked.

Judge Vengeance looked down at Crow. "The witness may step down."

"Cool." Crow happily hopped down from the witness stand and made his way back toward Joel at the bench. He looked at the three Observers over his shoulder as he passed them by. "Maybe you guys need to move out of your parents' basement and get some sun!"

Joel patted Crow's shoulder as he sat back down next to him. "Good job Crow."

"Really?"

"Yes, you answered honestly, calmly and I'm proud of you."

"So, can we get that ice cream?"

"I told you before, we'll see."

Crow sighed and dropped his head disappointedly again. "That always means 'no'!"

Observer rose to his feet once more. "The Prosecution calls Thomas Neville Servo to the stand."

Tom looked up at Joel. "My middle name is 'Neville'?"

"I, uh, I guess so. I never thought of a good middle name for you, but that seems to fit."

"Well I like it! Hey, maybe he really is from the future!"

Judge Vengeance banged his gavel. "The witness will take the stand."

Tom quickly hovered off the bench and to the witness stand. He looked up at Judge Vengeance, not intimidated in the least. "Hey, how ya' doing?"

Observer approached the bench and stared at the red gumball machine robot. "Do you, Thomas Neville Servo, swear to the tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Um, I would if I could lift my hand." Observer quickly turned Tom's right arm so his hand was in the air. "Thank you. Now I do."

"Mr. Servo," Observer stood tall and with his back to Tom. "how do you know Michael J. Nelson?"

"From this trial."

"How would you describe Mr. Nelson's demeanor?"

He looked over at Mike, who was slouched behind the desk. "Petrified, confused, bored, probably a little hungry-"

"Thank you Mr. Servo," Observer cut him off. "that's quite enough. You, just as your colleague Crow T. Robot, as a sentient robot have encountered numerous and various life forms throughout your solitude in space, have you not?"

"Obviously." Tom quipped.

"In your various encounters with extensive forms of life, how would you feel about a man who is destined to commit multiple acts of genocide?"

"Isn't that a leading question?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, your assuming that despite you admittingly traveling back in time, which as we all know will and already has altered the natural flow and time and thus the outcomes of events that follow, that Mike will still, and by your own admission, accidentally, destroy three worlds! Where's the evidence?"

"Objection! He's-"

"Overruled." Judge Vengeance stared at Observer.

Mike looked up at Tom with absolute amazement after hearing the little bots intelligence, logic and reasoning, while Joel and Crow didn't seem surprised at all.

"Very well," Observer didn't dare challenge His Honor's ruling. "no more questions."

"Defense may now question the witness."

Mike, feeling slightly more confident after hearing Tom's testimony, approached the witness stand. This time he hefted his leg iron up and over his shoulder to keep it from dragging on the floor. "Hello."

"Hi."

"Mr. Servo..."

"Tom. You called everyone else by their first name, so call me by mine."

"Okay, Tom." Mike felt a little more at ease with Tom's calm personality radiating throughout the courtroom. "Um, you said that it's impossible for the Observers to judge me for a crime, that I haven't yet committed. How do you know this?"

"First of all, it's not impossible for the Observers to judge a man for a crime that has yet to happen, it's improbable." He corrected. "Second, without any substantial evidence from the original timeline or this new, current timeline, as far as we know they're simply trying to use you as a scapegoat to cover up one of their own mistakes."

"Objection!" Observer rose to his feet, the other two Observer's following suit. "Speculative!"

"Sustained."

Mike quickly lost his train of thought. "Um, I don't really know where to go... from here." He shrugged his shoulders, careful not to drop the heavy leg iron. "No more questions." As Mike returned to his seat, he felt the glares burning holes into him from the three upset Observers.

Judge Vengeance looked down at Tom. "The witness may step down."

Tom hovered out of the witness stand and back toward Joel. "Morons! Apparently they've never seen 'Back to the Future'."

"Yeah!" Crow sided with Tom.

Judge Vengeance scanned the courtroom. "Will Prosecution call the next witness?"

Observer froze momentarily, feeling his colleagues mentally reprimanding his every action. "Yes, of course..." He was desperate to keep the trial from falling apart. As he mentally scanned the courtroom he remembered the other two robots in the room. "Prosecution now calls Miss Gypsy!"

"Oh..." Gypsy was obviously scared about taking the stand. As much as she wanted to help Mike she was too intimidated by Judge Vengeance to move. She tried to hide her face by ducking behind Joel's shoulder and shutting off her light, which was as close as she could ever come to closing her eye.

"Ahem," Observer cleared his throat in an impatient manner. "Prosecution calls Gypsy to the stand." He repeated condescendingly.

Gypsy tried to duck even lower. Joel put his hand on her head. "It's okay Gypsy, you can do it."

"Nuh-uh..." She denied shyly, shaking her head.

"C'mon, Mike needs your help." Joel encouraged.

"Yeah, don't be a chicken!" Crow badgered.

"Crow..." Joel put his hand over Crow's beak again. "It'll be okay Gypsy, just be honest."

Gypsy looked up over Joel's shoulder and looked at Mike who was sitting anxiously at his desk, all alone. "Oh, okay..." Slowly she crept her way from behind Joel and the benches toward the witness stand. She paused momentarily to look at the strange Observers who were waiting on her, then turned to look at Mike. While the Observers glared at her, Mike did his best to give her a reassuring look despite his own fear. As she took the stand she looked back at Joel who nodded at her, instilling the sensitive robot with much needed confidence.

"Now, Gypsy." Observer approached her. "Do you swear to the tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

Gypsy raised a small bundle of her coil-like body up into the air as she answered. "Uh-huh."

"Good. Let's begin." Observer continued his pattern of arrogant pacing and questioning. "How do you, Gypsy, know the defendant Michael J. Nelson?"

"He worked in Deep 13 and when I asked for help, he helped."

"Oh, so, by your logic if he was willing to help you once that mean he's never committed an atrocity and never will?"

"Sure! He hasn't give me a reason to think otherwise."

Observer sputtered at he blurted out yet another, "Objection! Speculative."

"Overruled." Judge Vengeance responded to Observer coldly. "Prosecution initiated the line of questioning."

Feeling the weight of impending defeat and reprimand from his colleagues, Observer hesitantly looked at his allies over his shoulder. They just glared at him and shook their heads disapprovingly. "One last question Gypsy," He tried to find a question that would give a damning answer against Mike. "if Michael J. Nelson is indeed the kind, nonviolent person that you believe him to be, then why do you think he was working in Deep 13 to begin with?"

"Um..." Gypsy didn't know the answer. "He needed the money?"

"You are most likely correct, but why did he accept work under Dr. Forrester? Why not work at an animal shelter or an ice cream parlor or a roller rink?"

"Um, they weren't hiring?"

"Perhaps." Observer tried his hand at a dramatic retort. "Perhaps, not. Perhaps Mike willing accepted employment from Dr. Forrester, the man solely responsible for your captive isolation and who had threatened on numerous occasions to harm, if not flat-out kill you and your friends, because Mike wanted to be just like him..."

"No!" Gypsy sounded horrified by the accusation.

Mike stood up from his desk. "Objection! Uh, isn't that speculative? Or even leading?"

"Sustained." Judge Vengeance ruled in Mike's favor again.

Observer seemed pleased to have emotionally shaken Gypsy. "Prosecution rests." He returned to his desk with a twisted grin on his face.

Mike, again carrying his leg iron over his shoulder, approached the witness stand and the purple bot he had spoken to in Deep 13. "Hi Gypsy."

"Hi Mike."

"I guess my only question for you is, why did you ask me for help? You know, when you thought Joel was going to be killed, not me."

"Because you were the only person down in Deep 13 who didn't threaten Joel or the satellite. You were the only one I could ask."

"Oh." Mike realized he backed himself into a corner with that question. "So if anyone else had taken the temp job you would've asked them for help instead, huh?"

"Probably."

"Well, what if I couldn't have found a way to help you or what if I said 'no'. Then what?"

"I would've kept looking for a way to help Joel on my own."

"And you're only helping me out because I helped you out first, right?"

"No."

"N-no?" Mike was sincerely surprised by her answer. "Then why?"

"Because Joel taught me that kindness begets kindness and cruelty begets cruelty. Even if you didn't help me first, I would help you anyway. It's the right thing to do."

"Thanks Gypsy." Mike turned away from the stand. "No more questions." He returned to his desk, not with a feeling of impending doom but with a sense of renewed hope that someone, anyone, could still help him despite the odds against him.

Judge Vengeance looked down at Gypsy. "The witness may step down."

Gypsy quickly made her way back to the benches and Joel. She was still afraid of the judge and no one could really blame her.

Observer, displeased with how the trial seemed to favor Mike, rose from his desk. "The Prosecution would like to deliver its closing statement."

Joel realized that everyone except for Cambot had been called as a witness. Cambot had recorded footage of Mike being abducted, of Mike trying to help Gypsy and of Mike being bullied by Dr. Forrester. He stood up quickly and addressed the court. "Your Honor! May I please approach the bench?"

The three Observers were openly annoyed if not disgusted by Joel's request. Mike was just all the more confused but didn't mind, as far he knew Joel was just staling his inevitable imprisonment.

Judge Vengeance banged his gavel three times. "Order in the court." His blacked out face stared at Joel's. "You may approach."

Observer was outraged. "Your Honor! This is highly unusual, why should-"

Judge Vengeance raised a hand and silenced Observer. "This case in general is unusual. Proceed Mr. Robinson."

Begrudgingly Observer sunk back into his seat, while Joel slowly made his way back toward the bench. He motioned for Cambot to follow him. "Your Honor, I have here documented evidence of Mike's implied act of kindness toward Gypsy, as well as Observer abducting Mike and his friend, Observer," he pointed to the tallest of the three Observers. "abducted me and my robots to bring us here, without a court mandated summons."

The Observer's exchanged nervous glances as Judge Vengeance took Cambot in his hands.

Joel instructed Cambot on what to do. "Cambot, open your preview screen and show the proper footage please."

Cambot did as he was instructed and Judge Vengeance watched as the bizarre scene played out in front of him. When the footage finished playing he retracted his grip on Cambot, who promptly returned to Joel. "The evidence will be included in my consideration."

Mike breathed a sigh of relief and finally relaxed in his chair. "I'm starting to love those cute little robots."

Joel and Cambot returned to the benches and awaited the next move on behalf of the Observers, who were displeased by Joel's actions.

Tom nudged Cambot. "Way to go buddy, who knew your obsessive compulsion to document everything would pay off someday?"

Cambot replied with a small, happy chirp.

Observer rose to his feet again. "The Prosecution would like to deliver the closing arguments."

Judge Vengeance addressed Observer. "It's customary for the Defense to initial the final statement."

"Right..." He sunk back into his seat again. "I knew that." He looked back his colleagues. "I really did know that!"

Judge Vengeance looked at Mike. "Mr. Nelson, please issue your closing statement."

"Okay..." Mike rose from his seat and approached the bench. "I can't really prove that I'm a good guy or disprove that I'm a bad guy. The only people who were willingly to speak up on my behalf are total strangers to me. I can't remember anybody sticking their necks out for me like this, not even my own family. Hell, my own brother would sell me out for a pack of smokes!" He turned and looked back at Joel and the robots. "But I guess if these five strangers, who've apparently suffered their own odd punishment for no reason, can look at me and figure I deserve a fair chance to prove that I'm not a total screw up, then I must have something good going for me." He turned back to the Judge. "I'm not sure if I really will end up destroying three worlds, I can't imagine a scenario where I could even have the ability to destroy three worlds to begin with! But if I do, intentional or accidental as it's been implied; I am sorry. And if I'm found innocent then I ill take steps to avoid this horrible moment from ever happening. Thank you."

As Mike slowly reclaimed his seat, wondering if this would be his last moment of freedom, Observer approached the bench.

"That was a heartfelt speech, was it not? We Observers, as highly evolved beings who have long since evolved beyond the need for bodies, have unlocked the secret to omnipotence. Yet with this unfathomable power we have not been so reckless as to bring about the destruction of three worlds." He turned and pointed at Mike. "This human, this very average human with no aspects for greatness or fame, will manage to commit multiple acts of genocide without so much as breaking a sweat." He turned his attention to Joel. "His only support stems from another human wearing a red jumpsuit and four robots constructed by said red bejumpsuited human. Hardly reliable testimony coming from a human who can build sentient robots but not find a way to build an escape pod. Michael J. Nelson is a monster, a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Three worlds will be caught in the blast and destroyed without provocation. I beg Your Honor to sentence this feeble lesser life form to indefinite imprisonment so that three worlds need not perish in flames. Thank you, Your Honor."

Mike lowered his head to his desk with a loud, audible 'thud'. I once renewed hope extinguished in an instant. "I'm so doomed..."

Judge Vengeance addressed the court. "The court will now recess as I contemplate the evidence in my chambers. Court will resume in one hour." He banged his gavel and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Joel could see that Mike had given up and was awaiting his fate. "Poor guy. It's not right to convict him on a completely spectral crime."

"Yeah," Crow agreed. "wait, what's 'spectral' mean?"

"It means using unseen or unproven facts and evidence as leverage. It was most infamously used during the 'Salem Witch Trials'. Many innocent people were executed out of fear and the citizens used spectral evidence as a means to justify their actions."

"So that's where the term 'witch hunt' comes from?"

"Yup."

"Joel, sometimes I don't think Earth is as great as you say it is."

"Sometimes it isn't." Joel admitted.

Tom joined in on the conversation. "If Mike is found innocent do you really think he'll be safe on Earth? Those Observer guys could use their omnipotence to set him up to die in a series of unfortunate accidents."

"Yeah," Crow agreed. "not to mention Dr. F wanted to kill him before he was taken way, what's to stop him from killing Mike anyway?"

Joel ran his fingers through his hair as he contemplated the robots' questions. "And I thought I was the unluckiest guy on Earth..."

Mike quietly sat with his head on his desk. As far as he was concerned his life was over. He'd spend the rest of his pitiful life imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and there was nothing and no one who could ever help him. His family and friends would never know where he was or that he was being held captive. Joel and the robots wouldn't be able to find him after he's taken away. And Dr. Forrester never even paid him for his work!

The three Observers, all seemingly more arrogant and condescending than when the trial began, stood together with their brains in their hands. A blank stare of emotional apathy in their eyes and small grins of twisted pleasure on their pale faces.

It'd had been nearly an hour now and Joel, who had himself been silently observing the eclectic group, decided to sit with Mike and be his friend, his only friend in the whole universe, just in case Judge Vengeance ruled in favor of the Observers. He sat down in the second chair next to Mike, the chair that would've been occupied by his lawyer if he could've chosen one. "Hey Mike."

Mike kept his head on the desk but slowly turned so one eye was looking at Joel. "Hey."

"How're you holding up?"

"Okay I guess. Having your entire character put on trial and having your freedom at stake really makes a man think."

"Think about what?"

"Like, why didn't I finish college? Why didn't I try to reach out and connect with my brother? How come I'm the one on trial?" If those Observers are truly as omni, uh, omnipo..."

"Omnipotent." Joel corrected.

"Right, omnipotent, and they can travel through time and everything, why didn't they just find a way to keep from ending up five hundred years in the future to begin with?"

"I don't know. Seems like that'd be easier and far more humane in hindsight."

Crow, who had secretly followed Joel and was eavesdropping, popped his head up onto the desk between Joel and Mike. "If I was omnipotent and could trim travel I'd just go back in time and stop you from ever being born!"

Mike gave an odd look to the gold robot as he lifted his head. "You'd go 'Terminator' on my parents?"

"Sure! Then you'd never-"

Joel put his hand over Crow's beak. "Mike, I think you're going to be okay."

"What makes you say that?" He was trying to figure out how Joel managed to remain so calm, so laidback in the face of alien wackiness.

"Because the Judge had been ruling in your favor throughout most of the trial. If the deck was really stacked against you then the truth of the matter is-"

Tom, who had also followed Joel, hovered up from beneath the desk where he had been eavesdropping and stood in front of Mike. "You can't handle the truth!" He looked around at everyone who was staring at him because of his cliché outburst. "Sorry, but I've been dying to say that since the trial began, and I'm standing by it!"

In a large plume of black smoke Judge Vengeance reappeared in the courtroom behind the bench. He stood tall for a moment before reclaiming his seat. "I have made my decision." His enshrouded face looked at Observer and then to Mike. "The Defendant will now stand."

Mike hesitantly rose to his feet and Joel could see him trembling with fear.

Observer, who was smug and brimming with misplaced self indulgence, took his place behind his desk and awaited the verdict of the trial. His two colleagues, Observer and Observer, were sitting behind him with the same arrogance plastered across their faces.

Judge Vengeance, spoke in the same indiscernible androgynous voice as he addressed the court. "I have carefully weighed the evidence and the testimony delivered during this trial. All details have been taken into consideration, nothing has been overlooked. Michael J. Nelson, I hereby find you..."

Mike closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the impactful sting of 'guilty' to strike him down.

"NOT guilty."

"Wh- what?" Mike couldn't believe what he had just heard.

Gypsy cheered out a happy, "Yaaaay!" from her seat on the bench.

"WHAT?!" Observer barked out in frustration at the Judge. "Are you MAD?!"

Judge Vengeance banged his gavel three times. "You are out of order."

"I'm out of order?" Observer stated with dramatic passion.

Joel and looked at Crow and Tom, they all knew exactly what Observer was going to say. They silently mouthed along with him as he continued his impassioned protest.

"You're out of order! The whole system is out of order!"

Judge Vengeance rose to his feet and pointed a finger at Observer. "Silence!"

Observer, still seething with anger, fell silent and was guided back down to his seat by his two colleagues.

Judge Vengeance continued. "As the naturally occurring timeline of events that had lead Michael J. Nelson to travel five hundred years into the future and unintentionally destroy three worlds has preemptively been altered, there is no definitive proof or evidence that can suitably condemn the man to a life of imprisonment."

Mike sighed with immense relief and opened his eyes, he stared at the blank ceiling as he began silently thanking everyone he could think of for his lucky break.

"However," Judge Vengeance was not finished. "seeing as Michael J. Nelson has been shown capable of such acts of destruction, I find it necessary to keep Mr. Nelson from continued association with the Earth, which as I have learned is one of the planets that will have been destroyed."

"Uh..." Mike felt his heart sink all over again.

"Therefore, I decree that from this day forth Michael J. Nelson will have to be relocated for the benefit of the Earth."

"Oh no..."

The Observers leered at Mike, knowing that despite everything that had transpired, he would still be punished.

Judge Vengeance stared at Mike with invisible eyes. "Until an appropriate location has been found, Michael J. Nelson will be imprisoned at-"

"Your Honor?" Joel stood up quickly and addressed the Judge bravely. "Um, might I make a suggestion?"

Judge Vengeance nodded slowly permitting Joel to continue.

"Why not lock Mike away on the Satellite of Love, with me and the robots?"

The Observers let out a collective gasp of horror. "Your Honor," Observer interrupted. "it's from that very wretched satellite that Mike Nelson ends up five hundred years into the future. It's the first link in the chain of events!"

The gavel banged three more times. "Observer, why was this information not brought to my attention during the trial?"

"Yeah!" Crow butted in.

"Well, you see..." Observer was more embarrassed than anything else.

Judge Vengeance looked back toward Mike and Joel. "Mr. Robinson, you are willing to allow this man, a potential genocidal fiend, residence aboard your ship?"

"Sure. Besides, now that we know Mike is supposed to end up in the future while onboard the satellite, maybe we can take the proper steps to prevent it from ever happening. You know, like that episode from Star Trek; 'The City on the Edge of Forever'."

"That's a great episode!" Tom reminisced. "I also really like 'Space Seed', you know, Khan debuts and-"

"Very well." Judge Vengeance accepted Joel's offer. "From this day forth I hereby sentence Michael J. Nelson to the custody of Joel Robinson. A sentence that is to be carried out aboard the Satellite of Love until either death or the destruction of said satellite." He banged the gavel once. "Court is adjourned."

Cloaked in dark ethereal billowing smoke Judge Vengeance disappeared along with the desks and benches, leaving the room vacant with the exception of its living occupants. The three Observers glared at Mike and Joel with bitter defeat in their eyes. The two Observer colleagues took Observer aside and began mentally reprimanding his blatant an utter failure to prevent Mike from setting foot aboard the Satellite of Love, and dooming three planets in the process.

Mike fell to the ground relieved. "Aw man, I didn't think I was going to..."

Joel nodded. "I know."

"And that I was going to..."

"Yeah, I know."

"And that in the end they would've...

"That would've sucked."

"Exactly!" Mike proceeded to fall all the way over onto his back on the floor and started laughing in euphoric relief.

Crow nudged Joel's leg with his beak. "Joel, where's Mike going to sleep?"

"Huh?" He looked down at his golden robot friend.

"On the satellite. Mike's moving in, but where's he going to sleep? Because I'm not sharing my room with some strange guy with a square head!"

Tom joined in. "Same here! My room is just that, MY room!"

Gypsy and Cambot joined the group. "He can stay with me!" Gypsy offered enthusiastically.

"Easy, you guys, relax." Joel remained calm and composed. "There's the guest cabin that we've been saving for just such a situation."

"Oh, right..." Crow pretended to remember.

"Wait," Tom admittedly didn't remember the guest cabin. "since when do we have a 'guest cabin'?"

"Well, ever since we started getting visited by aliens or long forgotten B-movie stars, Gypsy and I decided to keep a spare cabin ready in case someone needed a place to crash."

"Oh. Plot convenience."

"No Tom, it's called foresight. Something I really need to program into your databanks."

"Why didn't you do it before? Seems like something you should've prepared for. What's the word I'm looking for Crow?"

"Um, 'foresight'?"

"Yeah! That's it!"

The two robots started laughing at their creator.

"Very funny you two. It just so happens that the reason it was left out of your databanks is because you needed extra memory to figure out your load pan training."

Crow and Tom stopped laughing, embarrassed by how slowly they had been 'potty trained'.

"Okay," Joel took stock of their current situation. "now we need to get back to the satellite."

Mike sat up and looked at his new 'roommates'. "How do we do that? It's not like we can just hail a cab or something. Can we?" He looked around the enigmatic chamber expecting a large yellow taxi to magically appear.

"Good question." Joel answered. "Well, questions technically. I have no idea where we are."

The tallest of the three Observers approached the group. "Stand together. I shall transport you back aboard your 'Satellite of Love'."

Crow and Tom looked at each other gleefully and cheered. "Alright!"

"Yes!"

"We get to transport again!"

"That's so cool!"

Joel offered his hand and helped Mike to his feet. The two humans and four robots stood together as a Observer nodded his head quickly. In a flash Joel, Mike, the bots and Observer were standing on the bridge of the satellite once more.

"Wooooo!" Tom cried out happily as he hovered uncomfortably close to Observer. "One more time! Just one more time, man! You gotta help me out!"

"No." He answered flatly and pushed the gumball machine robot away in abhorrent frustration.

Joel pulled Tom back. "Come on Tom, leave him alone. He's had a bad day."

Crow scoffed at the very sentence. "He had a bad day? What about us? What about poor Mel here?"

Mike corrected Crow. "It's 'Mike'."

"What did I say?"

"Mel."

"Close enough."

Observer took a few steps back from the eclectic crowd. "I must return to my own time and world. May our paths never cross again." He nodded his head and disappeared as quickly as he had initially appeared.

Joel put Tom on the desk and looked at Mike. "So, should I show you to your cabin?"

"That'd be great, but first, can we do something about this?" He pulled the chain of the leg iron up into view. "My leg's getting tired."

"Sure, I think I can get that off with a blow torch or a key or something."

"Key please!"

"Right." He looked over at Gypsy. "Hey Gypsy, can you bring my toolbox to the bridge please?"

"Roger!"

Mike watched curiously as the purple robot disappeared into the ships ducts and rafters, he black coil body slowly weaving its way to and fro.

"So, is Gypsy always so helpful?"

"Yeah, without her the ship wouldn't function nearly as well as it does."

Tom hovered uncomfortably close to Mike's face and stared at him for a moment before he hovered over to Crow, who was standing behind Joel. He was also carefully watching Mike, unsure of how he felt about the new human.

"What about those two?" Mike motioned toward Tom and Crow standing behind Joel.

"Crow here," Joel put his hand on Crow's shoulder. "is a wise cracker but he means well. And as for Tom Servo, he's likes to think he has knowledge of the world. And, uh, fair warning, these two tend to have a flare for the dramatic."

"Oh, okay." Mike noticed Cambot on the corner of his eye. "What about that camera who saved my butt at the trial?"

"That's Cambot. He records everything that happens on the ship and documents the result of the weekly experiment from the 'Mads'. He also acts as our only visual link to Dr. Forrester and Frank back in Deep 13."

"The 'Mads'?"

"It's what we call them, you know, the 'mad scientists' is just such a cliché."

"Oh."

"We call them other things too, but that's not for innocent ears to hear."

"Huh?"

"The experiments get broadcasted across the Earth, because Dr. Forrester wants to take over the world by subjecting the worlds' populous to the worst movie ever made, but all it did was give us a surprisingly large fan base and alot of support through fan mail. It helps us keep our sanity and stave off the really elaborate world domination plot just a little while longer."

Gypsy returned to the bridge with the black toolbox in her mouth. She set it down on the desk.

"Thanks Gypsy."

"You're welcome!"

Joel opened the tool box and began digging through it, looking for the proper tool to help Mike.

"Experiments?" Mike was still confused. "With movies?"

"Yeah, we don't really watch them though. We just riff and laugh at the absurd 'cinematic sin' we're forced to watch."

"Forced? How?"

"Electric shocks or he'll turn off the oxygen."

"Oh."

Crow leaned into Joel again. "Hey Joel?"

"Yes?"

"Did you notice that Mitch and-"

"'Mike'." He corrected while continuing his search.

"Did you notice that Mike and that Observer look an awful lot alike?"

"How so?" Joel pulled a Swiss Army knife from the box and began flipping through its many mechanical functions.

"Well, to me it's look like Mike just put on some white face paint, put some black around his eyes, grabbed a purple cloak and called himself an alien! It doesn't make sense!"

"Crow, I'm a human who got launched into space, built four sentient robots and watches bad movie after bad movie on a weekly basis. What's to make sense?"

"Good point."

"Got it!" Joel found the skeleton key attached to the small knife. "This should work."

Mike awkwardly put his leg up on the desk so Joel could pick the ankle lock. It was then Mike noticed a red light flashing on the desk. "Hey Joel, what's that?"

Joel looked over and saw the light. "Oh, the 'mads' are calling." He pressed the button.

Through the monitor that linked the satellite with Deep 13, the crew watched as Dr. Forrester appeared on screen with Frank. Frank himself was wearing a neck brace, halo, both arms were in casts, his jaw was wired shut and he was being propped up on a dolly. An array of multi-colored balloons with 'Get Well' written on them were tied to the dolly above Frank's head.

"Come in Joel, my little space cadet!"

"Hi sirs, what's going on?" Joel was back to working on the lock.

"Well, this week... we..." He noticed Mike standing next to Joel. "Say, don't I know you?"

"Me?" Mike feigned innocence. "I don't think so."

"No, no, no, I'm pretty sure we've met."

Frank's eyes widened with fear of more impending pain coming his way.

"No, I don't think we have."

"Hold on, did you attend the mad scientist convention in Vegas, about six years ago?"

"No."

There was a 'click' as the unlocked iron restraint fell away from Mike's leg and onto the floor with a heavy 'thud'. "Got it!" Joel happily announced.

Dr. Forrester continued trying to place Mike. "Were you the guy I trapped in an elevator for six hours?"

"No! Man, that would've been horrible!" Mike answered while rubbing at his sore ankle.

"Wait, I got it." A confident smirk crossed his face. "Mrs. O'Reilly's dance class, 1986, 'Mark', right?"

"Uh..." Mike looked at Joel and the bots momentarily before deciding to answer. "It's 'Mike' but, yeah, that must've been it."

"I knew it! I knew I recognized you from somewhere. But how in the blazes did you get aboard the Satellite of Love?"

"Um, I lost a bet..." He lied.

"With whom?"

"Frank." It was he first name that came to his mind.

"Frank!" Dr. Forrester turned around quickly and stared at his battered colleague. "Did you send an innocent man into space as recompense for a bet?"

Frank couldn't answer, only mumble incoherently.

Dr. Forrester interpreted Frank's spastic babble as a 'yes'. "Well that's excellent work Frank, very evil." He turned back to Joel. "Now, Joel, let's begin this week's invention exchange."

"Invention exchange? Didn't we just do this a few hours ago?"

"What are you talking about you jumpsuited space monkey? Has my experiment finally worked, or are you trying weasel your way out of this week's experiment?"

"No sirs, it's just, has it really been a full week already?"

"Yes, yes! Stop trying to toy with me, I'm far more intelligent and better looking than you'll ever be. Now, make with the invention!"

"Okay, geez..." Joel looked around the bridge for the latest project he had been tinkering with.

Mike quietly asked Joel about the situation. "Is it always like this?"

"Yeah, pretty much. After the invention exchange he'll send up our bad movie for the week."

"Wow, you'd think a guy wanting to take over the world would have experiment's take place on a daily basis, not weekly."

"Shhh!" Crow shushed Mike. "Don't give that smelly jerk any ideas!"

"Sorry..."

Joel pulled a large blue and white umbrella-like contraption from beneath the desk. "Ah, here we are!" He opened the umbrella over his head, covering Mike and the bots as well. "Okay. You know, I've always been annoyed by umbrellas, the way the water washes off and gets your back all wet anyway."

Tom chimed in. "I didn't know that."

"That's right. Joel continued, he pointed at the additions made to the umbrella overhead. "I've added a gutter system on the outside edge and a spout leading down."

Crow tagged on, "Toward your shoes!"

"Crow!" Tom scolded.

"What?"

Gypsy had been examining the device. "Great Scott, he's right!"

"No, no, no." Joel resumed the explanation confidently. "I got that covered too, you just point it out the back!"

Mike and the bots wee somewhat impressed. "Well, look at that. This is a good idea!"

"Simple..." Tom observed.

"Definitely simple!" Crow dryly added.

"But good!" Tom defended.

Gypsy spoke up again. "Can you make me one?"

"Sure."

"Hey," Mike had an interesting question in mind. "what do you call it?"

"Uh, gutter..."

Crow suggested, "Bumber?"

"Chute!" Tom threw in. "Hey, Gutter-Bumber-Chute! I like it!"

The bots started chanting together. "Gutter-Bumber-Chute! Gutter-Bumber-Chute! Gutter-Bumber-Chute!"

Dr. Forrester was not nearly as impressed or thrilled as the Satellite of Love crew. "Oh good God... Calm down! It's just an umbrella with gutters! Now here's how you do an invention exchange..."

He turned and saw Frank still wrapped up and too battered to assist him that week. "Oh, right. Well at any rate, our invention was an ingenious device used to put the average porcine speckled 'bratling', who's enjoying himself just a bit too much, in his place! You'd love to run over and push him down and take his bike, but that could be risky: Enter Dr. Forrester's 'Dream Buster'." He held up a dark rectangular device to the camera.

"You see those balloons? What this puppy does is set up a frequency of... well, it would take a scientist to explain... Just watch!" He pressed a button the device.

After a series of computerized beeps from the device the balloons above Frank's head suddenly popped! Frank let out childish but stifled cries of sorrow as bits of latex rained down onto his head and stuck in his hair.

Dr. Forrester, with a twisted grin of pleasure on his face resumed his explanation. "It has a range of sixty yards and that's an invention exchange! Back up to you Joel and Mike."

Mike looked to Joel and the bots with a combination of confusion and mild horror. "So how am I supposed to react when he shows me that kind of stuff?"

Crow answered matter-of-factually. "Try to act impressed."

"No!" Mike hated that idea.

"Well it's what he's looking for!"

Tom spoke up. "It's what he needs."

Gypsy added her opinion. "I like Joel's alot better."

Tom warmly sided with Gypsy. "Yeah, I agree. Joel simply used glue to attach those gutters! The more I think about the more beautiful it seems."

Gypsy, off topic, added another one of her opinions. "'Mike' is a very nice name."

Mike just grinned at her offbeat compliment.

There was an awkward silence between the six unlikely friends before Crow finally blurted out. "I feel like I'm in a traveler's ad."

Joel just shook his head at the bizarre conversation taking place around him.

Dr. Forrester was toying with Frank, who was completely helpless to the torment. Frank struggled to speak, but all anyone could understand was the word 'mom'.

"I'm your mother now Frank." Dr. Forrester backed off from his injured lackey. He looked back at the monitor to see Joel and Mike watching him in disgust. "Ah, the greenhorn." He was eager to see how Mike would react to watching bad movies. "It's almost time for your first experiment. These are experiments, you know? And you are a lab rat! LAB RAT!" He taunted with a twisted laugh. "LAB RAT! Send them the movie..."

He remembered once again that Frank couldn't move.

"Never mind." He pushed the transmission button himself.

Aboard the Satellite of Love the lights began flashing and a buzzer sounded off loudly. Joel pressed the yellow button and called out, "We've got movie sign!"

Joel, Crow and Tom headed toward the theater. Joel noticed Mike standing on the bridge looking around confused. "Let's go Mike!"

"Okay!" Mike took off down the elaborately designed hallway with the six numbered doors opening in sequential order, revealing the dark theater with a single row of seats inside. He watched as Joel carried Tom into the theater and put him in a seat before taking the seat to Tom's right. "Uh? Is there a pecking order?"

"Yes!" Crow answered coldly. "Keep moving!"

Joel easily ended the confusion. "Here, take my seat, I'll move down one." He picked up Tom and put the red bot in the seat to his immediate left.

"Thanks." Mike sat between Joel and Crow and watched nervously as the movie's title popped up on screen with the rest of the opening cast of credits. "Huh, these people will be exploring issues that are teens issues."

Everyone laughed at Mike's comment.

Tom complimented the blonde newbie. "Wow, right out of the gate!"

"Doing pretty good, huh?"

"Just give it time."

**-The End**


End file.
